South Street Seaport Museum Announces Wayzgoose Holiday Kick Off

South Street Seaport Museum announces a kick off to the holiday season at the annual Wayzgoose––a 500-year-old printers’ tradition celebrating the changing of the seasons on Thursday, November 21, 2024, from 6pm to9pm. Step into the Seaport Museum’s 19th century- style letterpress printing shop, Bowne & Co. Stationers at 207-211 Water Street, New York, NY, to be the first to check out this season’s delightful selection of holiday gifts, cards, and other seasonal paper goods.

Join the Museum community for light refreshments as the printers of Bowne & Co. give you the opportunity to get hands-on with printing equipment from the Seaport Museum’s working collection and print your own holiday-themed works.

The charming shop offers the perfect setting to continue the long-standing Wayzgoose tradition. This event provides a special opportunity for printers to share the fruits of their labor with colleagues and friends, to raise a glass in celebration, and to reflect on the year and the joys of the upcoming holiday season. Registration is encouraged for this free event but walkups will be accommodated as possible. seaportmuseum.org/wayzgoose

A Brief History of Wayzgoose

Legend has it that when Johannes Gutenberg and his team completed the first edition of the Bible, he invited them to his countryside residence for a celebratory dinner where he served a roast goose—they went away to eat a goose, giving rise to the term Wayzgoose.

Wayzgoose is a traditional printer’s party that coincides with Bartholomewtide, the feast of St. Bartholomew, celebrated on August 24. St. Bartholomew is the patron saint of both bookbinders and butchers. In Northern Europe, the season began to change around this time, and papermakers would take a break from their work to produce waxed paper, used to cover windows in homes and workshops that couldn’t afford glass. While this wax paper provided insulation, it also blocked sunlight, marking the shift to working by candlelight. Wayzgoose celebrations recognized this seasonal transition.

Bowne & Co. Stationers Gift Emporium

This holiday season, stop by Bowne & Co., Stationers gift emporium to pick up holiday cards and unique gifts for those on your holiday list and enjoy the historical charm of the South Street Seaport Museum’s turn-of-the-century letterpress print shop.

From stationery essentials, holiday cards, and books, to house-designed and printed letterpress works, custom stationery, and more, Bowne & Co. offers carefully curated items that shed light on different facets of printing history, and the city's maritime heritage. Shop in-person at 211 Water Street or online at bowne.co.

About Bowne & Co.

Established by Robert Bowne in 1775, Bowne & Co. holds the distinction of being New York’s oldest operating business under the same name. After growing as a financial printer throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Bowne & Co. Inc. partnered with the Seaport Museum in 1975 to open a 19th century-style print shop at 211 Water Street in the South Street Seaport Historic District. Today, it is comprised of the Bowne & Co. Printing Office––a workspace that continues the age-old tradition of job (or small batch) printing using historic presses from South Street Seaport Museum’s working collection––and Bowne & Co. Stationers, a19th century-style emporium selling gifts and fine goods. seaportmuseum.org/bowne-co-stationers

About the South Street Seaport Museum

The South Street Seaport Museum, located in the heart of the historic seaport district in New York City, preserves and interprets the history of New York as a great port city. Founded in 1967, the Museum houses an extensive collection of works of art and artifacts, a maritime reference library, exhibition galleries and education spaces, working 19th century print shops, and an active fleet of historic vessels that all work to tell the story of “Where New York Begins.” seaportmuseum.org

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